Nominees in the Senate, Police Week in the House, Reconciliation Markups in Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce
Jason Pye - Vice President, Due Process Institute
Point of Order is a (mostly) weekly preview of key congressional activity for those with more than a passing interest in federal policy.
Nominees in the Senate: The Senate returns at 3:00 pm today. Before heading out for the weekend, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) filed cloture on the nominations of Monica Crowley to serve as Chief of Protocol at the Department of State, with the rank of Ambassador, Reed Rubinstein to serve as Legal Adviser of the Department of State, Troy Meink to serve as Secretary of the Air Force, James Danly to serve as Deputy Secretary of Energy, Katharine MacGregor to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Interior, and Michael Rigas to serve as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. Around 5:30 pm, the Senate will begin the vote to invoke cloture on the Crowley nomination. A vote on confirmation of the Crowley nomination is expected at 8:00 pm, immediately followed by vote to invoke cloture on the Rubinstein nomination. We’ve heard there could be a vote on S.Res. 195. This is a resolution requesting information from the Secretary of State on human rights practices in El Salvador.
Just a reminder that the Senate isn’t as transparent as the House when it comes to legislation and nominations that may be considered. We usually know what’s happening at the beginning of the week, but it’s often unclear what will happen after that.
Senate committee schedule: The full Senate committee schedule for the week is here. If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Schedule and suspensions in the House: The House returns at 2:00 pm on Tuesday for legislative business. Votes are postponed until 6:30 pm. The House will also be in session on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The last votes for the week are expected no later than 3:00 pm on Thursday. No votes are expected on Friday. Eighteen (18) bills are expected to be considered under the suspension of the rules (listed below). The cost estimates for those bills are available here.
H. Res. 364, Calling upon local communities to support organizations that provide resources and aid Gold Shield Families in their time of need (Transportation and Infrastructure Committee)
H. Con. Res. 30, Expressing support for local law enforcement officers (Judiciary Committee)
H. Res. 352, Calling on elected officials and civil society leaders to counter antisemitism and educate the public on the contributions of the Jewish American community. (Judiciary Committee)
H.R. 1550, Strengthening America’s Turning Point Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 1829, Apache County and Navajo County Conveyance Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 1682, BELO'S Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 167, Community Reclamation Partnerships Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 1418, Purchased and Referred Care Improvement Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 531, South Pacific Tuna Treaty Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 331, To amend the Aquifer Recharge Flexibility Act to clarify a provision relating to conveyances for aquifer recharge purposes (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 1001, To provide for a memorandum of understanding to address the impacts of a certain record of decision on the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 952, Reversionary Interest Conveyance Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 2215, Salem Maritime National Historical Park Redesignation and Boundary Study Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 249, To redesignate certain facilities at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in honor of Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 677, Expedited Appeals Review Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 1612, Flatside Wilderness Additions Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 2492, Fire Safe Electrical Corridors Act (Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 618, Apex Area Technical Corrections Act (Natural Resources Committee)
Bills that come to the floor under suspension of the rules require two-thirds of members present and voting for passage. This is the most common way that bills considered by the House come to the floor. Some of these bills may be passed by a voice vote, rather than a roll call vote. Most bills that come to the floor under suspension aren’t widely considered controversial, although leadership may occasionally test a bill under suspension to gauge opposition or sneak a bill through the chamber.
Rule bills: The House Rules Committee will meet at 4:00 pm on Tuesday to markup the rule providing for the consideration of the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act, H.R. 2240; the LEOSA Reform Act, H.R. 2243; and the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act, H.R. 2255. If you’re sensing a theme here, that’s because it’s Police Week.
We’ve got part of the Ways and Means and the full Energy and Commerce text: The House Ways and Means Committee dropped partial text of its recommendations ahead of its markup on Tuesday at 2:00 pm. The recommendations permanently extend the current tax rates, boost the Child Tax Credit by $500, and boost the standard deduction for married couples. However, it doesn’t include the 39.6 percent tax bracket for higher-income earners or anything on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. SALT will most likely be included when Ways and Means releases the remaining text. The 39.6 percent tax bracket is still a possibility. That’s an ongoing discussion. Separately, I'm told the "no tax" campaign promises for tipped wages, overtime wages, and Social Security will be included. However, the likelihood of permanence for these particular changes is low, and income caps will be applied. I'm told the "no tax on tips" is closest to the language introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and has a cap of $20,000 or $30,000 in tipped wages. The "no tax on overtime" is capped at $20,000 in overtime wages. The details of the "no tax on Social Security" language are unclear. This provision will have consequences for the Social Security trust funds and will speed up the projected exhaustion date of the Old-Age and Survivors Trust Fund, which is currently projected in 2033. There's also an ongoing debate on tax changes from the Inflation Reduction Act, mostly around tax credits for electric vehicles and solar energy. The House Energy and Commerce Committee released its recommendations last night, and I haven’t had a chance to review them, so I have no clue what the proposals are around Medicaid. The section-by-section of the Energy and Commerce recommendations is here. Energy and Commerce will hold its markup on Tuesday at 2:00 pm.
And Ways and Means’ proposals add nearly $5 trillion over ten years: The Joint Committee on Taxation released a score of what has been released by Ways and Means. The impact on the deficit is $4.9 trillion over ten years. That’s before anything related to ths SALT deduction. H.Con.Res. 14 gave instructions to Ways and Means to produce recommendations that add to the deficit by no more than $4.5 trillion.
House committee schedule: The full House committee schedule for the week is here. If you’re interested in watching any of these hearings online, you can find committee websites here.
Deficit watch: The budget deficit through April of FY 2025 is $1.051 trillion. That’s down from the $1.3 trillion through March. This is because April brought increased revenue because of tax filing. Tax receipts are up 5 percent compared to the same period last year while outlays are up 9 percent. Still, spending is up by $342 billion compared to the same period last year. A little more than half of that increase is Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Add in net interest on the public debt, these four programs or categories account for 69 percent of the increase in outlays.
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